So you backlash your rod, and in a hot second, you have a bird's nest of impossibly tangled monofilament. Thirty minutes of cussing, spooling, hacking with your pocketknife, and winding line leaves you back in business but with a clump of trash line blowing around the bottom of the boat like tumbleweed. Don't let it blow overboard, don't throw it away, don't just forget about it-recycle it.
The problem
Monofilament fishing line for the most part is not biodegradable and can last underwater for centuries. Abandoned line is responsible for countless wildlife deaths to seabirds, fish and marine mammals as the line can tangle. According to figures provided by NOAA, "in 2005, volunteers participating in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) - the world's largest single day volunteer effort to benefit the marine environment - found 101 marine animals (fish, birds, invertebrates, mammals and reptiles) entangled in various forms of marine debris. Of these, about 60 percent were entangled in discarded fishing line and nets."
Lost and abandoned monofilament is believed to be responsible for incredible declines in healthy coral, fish colonies and invertebrate bivalves. Studies by the University of Hawaii show that discarded fishing gear entanglements and ingestion have been reported in no less than 267 animal species worldwide. In the 2009 Mississippi Coastal Cleanup, more than 539 pieces of discarded fishing line were picked up in just three hours. The fact that this stuff can float around on the ocean for 600-years and is not biodegradable in water is eye opening.
While the impact on wild life is alarming and substantial, there are other threats that abandoned line carry. It can cause a drowning danger to divers and recreational swimmers. Monofilament can be sucked into industrial bilge pumps and intake valves, clogging machinery and ruining equipment. Every year hundreds of boaters experience first-hand the nightmare of spun props, hopelessly ensnared in a mesh of fishing line. This can result in ruined trips, costly repairs, and the prospect of being adrift at sea with no power.
The solution
Damaged, old or unusable line should not be thrown away, as scavengers can drag and scatter the line to where it is introduced back into the wild. You can burn it, but doing so can result in harmful fumes and bigger mess. The only sure-fire solution is practical recycling.
In 2008, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) instituted the Mississippi Monofilament Recycling Program. From LaFrance Marina on the Louisiana state line to the Heron Bayou Boat Launch on the Alabama one, Mississippi DMR has set up 23 fishing line-recycling locations to collect discarded line at no cost to the public. In the past two years, more than 175-pounds of fishing line have been recycled in the Magnolia State program.
The Berkley Conservation Institute has been spearheading efforts to recycle line since 1990. They have successfully recycled more than 9-million miles of line from 17,000 collection bins worldwide. If you do not have a DMR or Berkley bin near you, Berkley takes all line mailed in at:
Berkley Recycling
1900 18th Street
Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360
Such common sense steps as casting responsibly, being aware of fishing around snags and strictures can keep you from losing line needlessly. You also need to maintain your line and inspect it before each trip to make sure it is not frayed, cut or worn out. Not only can you lose your line, you can lose valuable lures and possibly huge life-changing fish when working with old line.
If it's already too late
If you have found wildlife entangled in abandoned fishing line in Mississippi coastal waters there are several options, depending on the nature of the animal involved.
If it is marine wildlife such as seabirds, call the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources at 228-374-5000 or the NOAA Fisheries Service in Pascagoula at 228-762-4591.
For marine mammals such as dolphins, turtles and manatees call the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport at 1-888-SOS-DOLPHIN (1-888-767-3657) to help effect a rescue.
For land animals such as otters and raccoons entangled in lost fishing line call Pass Christian-based WRANPS at 228-452-WILD (228-452-9453).
Finally, if you see or know of someone illegally dumping marine debris, you can report it to the DMR at 1-800-294-5551 or the US Coast Guard at 1-800-424-8802.
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